Missing
by rugbygal54
Summary: Takes place right after the season 6 finale, my take on what I think may happen as Kate tries to find Rick.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The love of her life is missing and she had no idea where he could possibly be. It had been 5 days since Kate's and Rick's wedding day and it had been the worst 5 days of her life. She's worked every minute of the day trying to figure out what happened to Rick. She was informed by one of the officers when she arrived to the scene of her fiancé burning car that Rick's body wasn't in there. Relief washed though Kate knowing that there was a possibility that he was alive somewhere. Her relief quickly changed to fear knowing that Rick had been taken from her on what is supposed to be the happiest day of her life. She thinks who could have possibly pulled this off and the one name that repeatedly came to mind was Tyson.

Kate had barely slept since Rick's disappearance and only ate when she was forced to by Lanie or the boys. Kate looked like hell but she didn't care. She needed to find Rick that's all that mattered to her now. Sleep and food were a distraction but having everyone nagging over her was more so, so she ate when they forced her and told them she would head out shortly after they left for the night.

Kate had exhausted all her leads and now she had nothing, no leads, no clues, and no trace. She was mentally exhausted but she wouldn't give up, she couldn't, but it was getting harder and harder as the days past to believe that they would get their happy ending. She missed him with every fiber of her being. She missed his crazy theories as they worked cases; she'd give anything to have him bug her with one of his insane ideas right now.

Everybody at the precinct was working on the case 24/7 for the first few days but now it was just her and boys. Javi walked up to Kate's desk and pleaded with her to go get some rest. "You won't be very helpful in getting him back if you can't function. Go home get a couple hours of sleep and come back with a full battery." Kate reluctantly packed her things and headed home knowing that if she didn't go willingly she would probably be forcibly removed.

Kate still lived at the loft with Martha and Alexis, she was tempted to stay at her apartment but she knew Rick would be disappointed if he found out she left his family. However she would always come in very late when she knew both were asleep and would leave before either of them got up. She felt guilty but she couldn't handle seeing their faces, she was barely hanging on as it was. Sleeping in one of Rick's shirts and having his scent envelop her each night kept her motivated to find him. She knew that his smell would eventually disappear and she knew she would die when that day came.

Another few days had past and still nothing; Kate was frustrated and felt her heart crack a little more with each passing day. The boys now had other cases to work on but would help Kate whenever they had downtime or were off shift. Gate's let Kate continue working Rick's disappearance knowing that she would be useless with anything else that was put on her plate.

That's where Alexis found Kate at 10:30 at night staring at the white board from her desk with her dad's face in the right hand corner. "Kate?" Alexis's voice sounded unsure almost scared to interrupt Kate while she was working on her dad's case.

"Alexis? What are you doing here?" Kate was clearly shocked seeing the red head standing in front of her.

"I needed to see you make sure you were doing okay, because I'm not. I've lost my dad and now it feels like I'm losing you too." Alexis's voice cracked. Tears ready to fall.

"Alexis, I'm right here trying to find your dad to bring him home. Isn't that what you guys want me to do?" Kate was frustrated with this whole thing, it was her job to keep him safe and she failed. She failed to keep him safe and now she's failing at finding him. Having Alexis here interrupting was only frustrating her more.

"Of course I want him home, but I want you home too. I need you. I want to be able to talk to you about dad, cry on your shoulder and I want you to do the same. You can't keep everything bottled up or it will destroy you before you can find him. Please come home." Alexis was desperate to get Kate home. She wanted her dad home but she also wanted Kate and she needed Kate to believe her that she thought of her like family. It took a while for her and Kate to get their relationship back on track and Alexis was desperate to keep it that way.

Kate looked deeply into Alexis's sighed and eyes closed her eyes "Alexi..."

"No!" exclaimed Alexis knowing that Kate was about to tell her she needed to stay put so that she could find her dad. "Don't you dare say you can't come home. You and grams are all I have, and you're pulling away!" Alexis was angry but she softened her voice added "You are like a mother to me and right now I need my mom. Everything is falling apart grams is trying to help but it's you who I need."

Kate's heart broke, she knew that Alexis would be hurting from losing Rick but she didn't fully think about how her decision to keep her distance was causing Alexis more distress. Kate stood up from her desk and walked up to Alexis and hugged her. "Okay, let's go home" Kate whispered into Alexis's hair.

The ride home was quite. Kate could tell that Alexis was drained from their confrontation at the precinct so she kept quiet and kept stealing glances at her every few minutes to see if Alexis would say anything. Once they arrived at the loft Alexis turned to Kate with tears in her eyes that were about to spill over. "I'm really sorry about how I acted at the precinct; I should have been calmer about the situation."

Kate brushed a tear that slid down the red heads cheek. "I love you Alexis; I love you like you are my own daughter. I'm glad that you came in tonight, I clearly needed some sense knocked into me." Alexis visibly relaxed a little and leaned over the center conceal to hug her dad's fiancé, "I love you too Kate."

Both women went up to the loft clutching each other's hands knowing that each of them needed the comfort. Once inside Alexis turned to Kate and asked "Would you watch a movie with me? I know I should probably head to bed but I just need to be around you to know that you aren't leaving."

Kate hugged Alexis again and then looked at her "Of course Alexis and for the record I'm not going anywhere. I'll make sure I'm home by dinner from now on and here when you get up." Kate made this promise knowing that she would set up in Castle's office and still work the case while keeping Alexis happy.

Kate moved to the couch while Alexis picked out a movie. Sweet Home Alabama was placed in the DVD player and Alexis took a seat next to Kate. It wasn't long before Kate noticed that Alexis's eyes were starting to drift shut. Gently Kate guided Alexis's head to her lap and stated to brush her hands through her hair hoping it would sooth her.

Kate knew she belonged here in the loft even if Rick wasn't by her side. His little girl needed her and she needed the young red head right back. They were family even if there wasn't a piece of paper stating so.

Kate was starting to drift to sleep when she heard a noise come from the front door. Kate looked at the clock and noticed that it read 12:35 am. She carefully removed Alexis's head from her lap and grabbed her gun and quietly moved to the front door to look out the peephole. Not seeing anyone she slowly opened the door. There in front of her was an envelope with her name scribbled on the front in Rick's handwriting.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kate ran towards the stairwell hoping to see who left the letter but there was no one around. Kate waked back to the loft and picked up the letter with shaky hands. They had gone a week and a half without a clue and now this letter appears on their door step. Kate closes the door leans against it and takes a deep breath. She's scared about what she might find inside but she pushes her fears aside and opens the letter.

The envelope might have had Castle's writing but the letter inside was not his writing. Kate took a deep breath and read the letter:

_Detective, I'm very disappointed in you. I thought you would have put forth more effort to get you fiancé back, maybe you don't care for him as much as I imagined, maybe I should just kill him and end our little game now! You have 3 days then you will get him back is pieces.  
3XK_

Kate went cold, fear rippled through her entire body and she started shaking as tears fell down her face. Kate hadn't noticed but by now Alexis had awoken and was watching her from the couch.

"Kate what's wrong?" Fear was now spreading through Alexis as she watched her future stepmom shake uncontrollably. Alexis got up off the couch and walked towards Kate when she didn't get a reply. Again Alexis asked her question right in front of Kate. This time she did get a reply.

"It's nothing honey, everything is okay" Kate's obvious lie wasn't fooling Alexis.

"Kate if this has to deal with dad I deserve to know, I NEED to know" Alexis wasn't going to let it go and Kate knew that, she just wanted to spare Alexis the pain that will come with reading the letter.

Kate slowly handed Alexis the letter watching her carefully as she read it. When Alexis got to the end of the letter she was sobbing knowing it was a very real possibility that she would never see her father alive again. "Kate" Alexis said wide eyed and panicky.

"I know sweetheart" Kate grabbed Alexis into a tight hug and held her while she cried. Eventually the sobs stopped and Kate walked Alexis to her room where she sat with her and soothed her until she fell asleep.

Once Alexis was asleep Kate went downstairs to make a few phone calls, one to each of the boys and one to the lab. Kate knew that she wouldn't be able to get anything done tonight but also knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep so she put the letter in a Ziploc bag to avoid any more contamination and went to sit in Alexis' room. Kate wanted to be there to comfort Alexis if she woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Morning couldn't come fast enough for Kate, she wanted to get to the lab and check to see if Tyson left a clue somewhere in or on the letter to help find Rick. She woke Alexis up to inform her that she was heading to the precinct and that she might have to break her promise about being home for dinner depending on what pans out with the letter. As Martha wasn't up when Kate was leaving she asked Alexis to get her up to speed about the letter and would call if they found any new leads.

The boys meet Kate at the lab at 6:30 where each of them had a chance to read the letter. After reading the letter it was given to the lab tech for numerous tests to be done. Time seemed to slow to a halt during this process. Kate was pacing the lobby, "how long does it bloody take to get a letter analyzed". It took a couple of hours to get the tests done but they finally got what they desperately needed, a lead.

There were hints of different chemicals on the paper that wouldn't normally be there leading the team to believe that Rick was being kept in one of 3 possible warehouses. One was in Port Morris in the Bronx, and the other 2 were in Willets Point in Queens.

3 teams of 4 were put together with Beckett leading herself, Espo, Ryan and Mills to the warehouse in the Bronx and the other 2 teams were going to Queens. By the time they were ready to raid the warehouse it was shortly after 7pm. It was dead quiet around them as the majority of workers had left by 5. The building that they entered had 5 floors, the team worked their way up making sure every room was clear before moving to the next. They were about to reach the top floor and still there was no sign of Castle. **Beckett was praying that they would find him here, her heart couldn't take another lead turning cold. ** Ryan opened the door and everyone filed in. There in the middle of the room was Castle tied to chair beaten to a pulp.

Kate sprinted to Castle not caring that the room wasn't clear yet. She checked his pulse, it was weak but it was there. "He's alive" she shouted to the boys. Espo called it in requesting an ambulance get there ASAP as Ryan and Mills started clearing the floor. The 3 boys cleared the whole floor and there was no sign of Tyson. Ryan walked up to Beckett and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "He isn't here; there isn't any sign of him." Kate at that exact moment could care less, she had Rick back and that was the most important thing.

"Rick... Rick... Can you hear me? Please baby open your eyes" tears were rolling down Kate's face as she took in the sight of her fiancé. Rick's eyes were swollen shut, he had cuts and bruises all over his body, she was pretty sure he had a couple of broken ribs and a broken leg. Kate gently caressed his cheek hoping to get Rick to wake up. Rick cracked one eye open looking for the one person that he really needed to see.

"Am I late for the wedding?" It came out weaker than Rick would have like but it got the desired effect, a laugh that was full of relief.

Kate knew that they had a long road ahead of them but that they were going to be okay; they would always be okay as long as they were together. As the paramedics loaded Rick up Kate called Martha and Alexis. Both were beyond relieved to hear that Rick was going to be okay and agreed that they would meet them at the hospital. Kate left out the part where Tyson was nowhere to be found when they found Rick; that was a problem for another day.

End


End file.
